Brutal Love

People say love is supposed to be special, magical even. When I was a little girl I expected to wake up one morning and my knight in shining armour would be stood outside my window however what fairytales don't prepare you for is the actually stone cold world. It only took me a second to realise how much of a tale those stories were and ever since that second I have been trapped in my own personal hell.
Kaitlyn was 14 years old when her parents died in a plane crash and she was shipped off to adoptive parents that couldn't care less about her. She was completely broken until Aaron came along, he promised he would fix her but everyone knows good things don't last forever...
At 17 years old she's more damaged than ever, she can feel any hope she once had rapidly fading away but not all is lost. What happens when the perfect and most unexpected guy appears out of the blue? Will it be the happily ever after she deserves or is he not as perfect as he seems?

10. Chapter 8

My eyes flickered open, I was greeted by my white ceiling. I felt my head; the wound was healing nicely. It has been three days since the accident. I called in sick so I didn't have to face anyone after what happened on Wednesday. Unfortunately I will have to face Jess today. It's the day of the concert. I glanced over at the clock, it was 4:30pm already. I've hardly moved from my bed since Wednesday night.

As much as I don't want to disappoint Jess I really can't be bothered with tonight but If I don't go she'll get suspicious. I already told her I wasn't feeling crappy anymore. I can't let anyone else down.

I walked into my bathroom and once again I was met by the stranger in the mirror. I squeezed my eyes shut before splashing my face with cold water.

It took me about half an hour to hide the marks on my face, I've become pretty good at masking the gashes and bruises. It has become part of my daily routine.

When I glanced back up at the mirror the girl I saw still didn't look like me. The makeup was subtle but effective yet her eyes were dead. She looked numb. I felt numb.

I jumped at the sound of the doorbell; Jess was here.

Inhaling deeply I hurried down the stairs, exhaling into a smile as I opened the door.

"Hey Jessie."

"Hey babe!" She wrapped her arms tightly around me, I tried to mask my wince as some of the bruises flared up.

"What time are we going?" I pulled back as quickly as I could to avoid more pain.

"We'll head off at around half six, it'll take about an hour to get there but I don't really care about missing some of the opener if we're a bit late." She shrugged and strolled in.

"Who's even opening for them?"

"Some singer. One of the American idol finalists. Who cares?! Come on! We have an hour and a half to make ourselves look like snazzy bitches." she grabbed my hand and bounced up the staircase. I emitted a laugh as I sped behind her.

"So I've brought the red dress I wore for Alexia's seventeenth, what are you wearing?" she made her way into my room dumping her bag on my bed.

"I don't really know..." I glanced at my wardrobe.

"Well then, let's find out." She pulled open my wardrobe door and started raking through my clothes, "What's happened to all your dresses?"

"Fine." I mumbled. I knew she was lying, she was just trying to make me feel better about myself.

"Here, wear this." She pulled out a chiffon purple blouse that had no sleeves with my black skater skirt and a pair of leggings, "You always look hot in skater skirts."

"I don't care about looking hot. I have a boyfriend, remember?"

"Yeah but I don't like him." Her fact was blunt.

"You said you did a few days ago."

"That was before Wednesday. after seeing that I've gone back to hating his guts." She scrunched her nose up in anger.

I froze. Did she know?

"What do you mean?" I chewed the inside of my lip.

"When he pulled you off Connor. He was also way too possessive. It looked like he hurt you." She was concerned.

"Well I'm fine." I snapped.

"Kait," she sighed, "I'm worried about you."

"You don't need to be. I can handle myself. Just stop interfering." I huffed before grabbing my clothes and storming into the bathroom.

The truth was I can't handle myself. I'm powerless. I'm fragile. I'm completely and utterly broken but at the end of the day, that's my problem, not hers.

***

An hour and twenty minutes later I was perched on the chair in front of my dressing table. Jess was doing my hair. She pulled the top section back and tied it loosely, pulling out random strands to give it a messy but stylish look.

I was ready forty minutes ago but Jess is the slowest person on earth. She refused to do my hair until she had curled hers, the tongs weren't even switched on when I asked!

"Perfect." Jess grinned at she looked at me in the mirror. The hairstyle was perfect. If hairdressing paid better she said she would've loved to end up in that career.

Besides the hair, I still looked like sh*t. No surprises there.

"Thank you!" I grinned towards her as I stood, picking my bag up from beside me.

"Now come on, if we don't hurry up we'll miss their first song." Once again I found myself being pulled towards the stairs.

"Slow down. We still have plenty of time!" I emitted a laugh as I shook my head slightly. I almost tripped down the last step.

"I cannot miss seeing Jake's beautiful face."

"Hate to break it to you but Jake has a girlfriend." I smirked.

"Shush" Jess his my shoulder, "I can dream can't I?"

I rolled my eyes, "Are we going then or what?"

***

"Which seats are ours?" I shouted over the music. We were in the balcony. Unfortunately, there was more traffic than expected so ATY were already on stage.

"B 19 and 20." I nodded to show I heard and started to weave my way through the crowds of people.

"Excuse me. Pardon me- oops sorry." I shouted my apologise as I continued to stand on the screaming teenage girls. Ugh. Too many fangirls in one room, this is why I don't go to concerts. I'm sorry but 'celebrities' are just people... Yeah, they're talented, but there could be another person with just as much potential out there but just haven't been noticed.

My thoughts were interrupted at I completely face planted the ground after tripping on a bag strap. Me and Jess burst into laughter as I tried to wobble my way back to standing.

As I straightened up I saw the lead singer looking up at me with a cheeky smile. Oh my gosh he saw. I swear my clumsiness is a complete curse.

I laughed as his eyes stayed focused on me; he seemed slightly shocked. Was he expecting me to scream? or faint? or make some rude hand gesture? this is pretty new territory for me... I think I'll just stick to my retarded laugh.

His eyes moved back so he was looking out into the stalls. We may have been at the side of the balcony but we were pretty close.

I clapped and cheered along with everyone else as the song finished. I felt a little awkward, I didn't really know many of the songs, even the covers they did were new to me. I don't really listen to much music.

For the next half an hour me and Jess completely let loose. I wasn't just going to stand there, even if I don't know the words. You can't come to a concert and not dance or rave, it's unheard of.

The lead singer, Brandon, steps forward to quieten down the obsessive girls.

"Hey everyone, it's incredible to see you all tonight and It's great that you could all join us on our last tour date. None of this was possible without all of you." Brandon continued his little speech but I struggled to make out his words due to the hysterical girls behind me, "We weren't going to do this song as we were going to avoid as many slow songs as possible but we've had so many requests we thought if we don't do it then we're going to have very angry fans to deal with, so here we go..."

I pressed my palms to my ears as screaming erupted when he played the first few chords. A smile flickered across my lips as I realised what song it was. This was my favourite one.

If you want words to put your mind at rest tonight,

Come shout about it.

We can talk for a hundred miles and drive

Where you're less surrounded.

Cause I can see that the candle you hold inside

Has a cloud around it.

How can a heart like yours be that high and dry

When it burns the brightest.

I couldn't resist anymore, I don't know what it is about this song but it makes me forget everything and for the three/four minutes it plays, I actually feel like I do have some sort of purpose; that I'm special in some strange way. I started to sing along.

I'm so sorry I can't stop myself from staring at you,

When you're tired and blue, my dear.

It's just any reason I get to be closer to you,

I wanna shout about it,

Oh, I wanna shout about it.

Beneath the window and the water that's in your eyes

That's where I know you're hiding.

There's a smile that could light up a thousand lives

And you need reminding.

Tell me your fears, don't let 'em live a life alone

Let me share the burden.

Cause here beside you there's a man you better know know know

Who you can confide in.

Just then Brandon's eyes left the stalls and shifted back to the area where I was stood.

I'm so sorry I can't stop myself from staring at you,

When you're tired and blue, my dear.

It's just any reason I get to be closer to you,

I wanna shout about it,

Oh, I wanna shout about it.

I shifted on the spot as his eyes stayed glued on the balcony, I couldn't see clearly who he was looking at, one of the coloured lights was causing me to squint.

I'm not saying, all I do

Will make everything you touch turn to gold

I'm just waiting to pull you through

I'll take a little off the load

Yeah, any reason I get to be close to you.

Wanna shout about it.

The light was slowly dimming, allowing my eyes to adjust. It only took me a few seconds after the light had gone to see who he was staring at.

I'm so sorry I can't stop myself from staring at you

When you're tired and blue, my dear.

It's just any reason I get to be closer to you,

No, I'm gonna shout about it,

Oh, I wanna shout the loudest.

I couldn't hear any screaming girls anymore. I couldn't see any obsessive fans begging to be noticed. The only thing I could see was his chocolate brown eyes.